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It's been some time since my last round of testing, and the time has certainly come for a refresher. Adopting much the same approach as previously, I have been asked if there were any surprises, and the honest answer is yes, there have. The most significant surprise was how difficult I was finding it to infect my system in the first place. After three hours of browsing, deliberatley choosing websites and domains where infection was almost a prerequisite, I had nothing, and it was only after investigating various system settings that I found out why. For those looking for the technical "how I did it", I once again started with a clean install of XP SP2 on a virtual machine, patched with the necessary microsoft updates. I deliberately did not upgrade to SP3. Having gotten my clean install, I backed it up, and then went off to infect it. Before doing so I downloaded installation packages for those on test, and once I had my machine infected, I backed up the infected machine. I restored the original infected machine to test each product, ensuring a level playing field for each test. Finally, I did incremental scans with each product on the same infected system. |
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So, the question is why was it so hard for me to get my machine infected in the first place, and having identified the "problem", my top recommendation is not an anti-malware product, and doesn't even involve a download or a scan of any type. It doesn't offer any form of protection on your PC, but it will help enormously against infection in the first place. What is this magic solution? For some time, I have been using OpenDNS as my DNS server, rather than my ISPs own offering. I hadn't realised how pro-active OpenDNS is in the fight against drive by malware protection. Quite simply, every time I tried to visit a site guaranteed to infect me, it was simply shown as not found. During normal browsing sessions you never see this, and so it took me a while to realise the cause. Only after switching back to my ISP hosted DNS was I able to find the infections that I craved. Requiring only a quick, free registration and simple confirguration change, you improve your protections considerably. Having made that recommendation, it is still possible to infect your system, either running software that may spread infection, or visiting sites that may not be in OpenDNS blacklist, and whilst an excellent first line of defence, local protection is still a must. Top of the list once again is SuperAntiSpyware, which successfully detected and cleaned 121 threats on my test system. A fairly lightweight download and simple installation (5.99 MB) mean that this is not a burdensome product. If anything, the general package, whilst aesthetically similar, is improved since last time, managing to detect and clean after a single scan rather than the two scans required last time. A reboot to complete cleaning was still required, though this is a minor inconvenience, and required by most packages. If I had to raise a critisicm, it's that the freeware version still installs a startup item which doesn't actually do anything at all. In the paid version, it loads the always on protection which is not available in the freeware version. This minor annoyance aside, it remains my top recommendation.
Promoted this time to joint second place is A-Squared free edition, and let me be very clear that it is ONLY the free edition that I am able to recommend. A-Squared was able to identify just 43 infections, though some of the more serious threats identified by SAS were included in these. If we disregard tracking cookies, then the margins narrow. However, detection rate is only half the battle, and unfortunately A-Squared was unable to automatically clean some of the more virulent infections found itself. Nevertheless, it helpfully provides a link to forums for manual removal instructions.
The downside of A2 is the download size, being a huge 54.2 MB, immediately followed by a further 20MB updates. Anyone on restricted bandwidth or dial up may be advised to look elsewhere, but for an average broadband connection this should not be a factor.
As mentioned, I can only recommend the freeware version. During testing I inadvertently downloaded the full version of A2, which runs in evaluation mode for 30 days. Strangely, the full version hung on the scan during each test (though the program itself didn't crash), which is a particular worry.
Sharing the second place spot is MalwareBytes AntiMalware. MBAM caused me considerable problems initially, being one of two programs that had been actively bocked from running by one of the nasties I had picked up. Only after renaming the main executable, and running it in safe mode was I able to proceed. This initial scan found 19 infections and managed to clean them sufficently that when I rebooted I was able to run the program in a normal environment. I updated the program and ran a full scan, which found a further 8 infections, bringing the total to 27. Where MBAM did better than other products on test was it's ability to remove hijacked DNS entries (which forced redirection of links from popular search engines to less productive sites).
Separating A2 and MBAM is almost impossible. I found them to be on a par with each other regarding their scans, but both require a technical proficiency that many may not posses; A2 requires manual removal of many threats, whilst MBAM forced me to jump through hoops to get it working.
PCTools SpywareDoctor SE also performed well in scanning, finding 24 threats (excluding cookies). Unfortunately, cleaning the system proved more problematic. Despite reporting successful cleansing, SD failed to terminate processes already running, and did not in fact clean some of the more annoying infections. It would also be useful if SD prompted a reboot after cleansing, though it did not do this, and only experience dictated that this would be a good idea.
SD does, however, include real time protection, which most other products don't, and this protection did block those infections that it had failed to clean. Nevertheless, a further scan and clean with SAS was needed to fully clean my test system. A fine effort, but sadly falling short of the mark. Do note that the free version is no longer available from the PCTools website. It can be obtained as part of the google pack, or from here.
Old timer Ad-Aware, coming in at 35.7MB performed reasonably, if not exceptionally, finding a further 24 infections even after cleaning with A-squared, 4 of which represented real threats, whilst the remaining 20 were cookies.
Doing less well in on demand tests were Spybot S&D, Spyware Terminator and The Cleaner 2010. Spybot was the other program that was actively blocked from running, and nothing I tried could overcome this. It does come with an on demand file scanner which can be run from the command line and set to scan your entire drive. However, after letting this run for over an hour and noting that progress had barely touched my relatively small installation system (2.1 Gb) I cancelled. It would take an age to complete the scan, and would only examine files. Registry entries and services would be left untouched. Spyware Terminator found just 3 threats, and The Cleaner 2010 found absolutely none.
Arovax Shield is still in development, and starting to mature, though there are still bugs to be ironed out. For example, once installed, and after the obligatory reboot to enable it to start it's services, it immediately complained that it could not find Firefox. This is no surprise since FF was not installed on the test system, though I fail to see why it should prevent it from doing it's job. Maybe as time progresses this will become more viable, but in my opinion it isn't quite there yet.
And so that leads us to my standard "other recommendations". Internet Explorer has now reached version 8, which I am sure will become the most prolific web browser before too long, and as such will be the most heavily targetted. I stand by previous recommendations that an alternative browser (of which there are many free ones these days, including Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari) will offer a safer browsing experience.
And in order to shut the door after the horse has bolted, there is still little more useful that HiJack This, which is still a tool requiring expert help, but can be invaluable in helping to clean an infected system. Fortunately, the expert help is still only a forum away.
 And as always, let common sense guide you. Don't run a program from an untrusted source, and don't visit websites where infection is likely. You should also beware of popups from programs that you haven't installed, some of the fake anti-spyware I managed to pick up in my browsing sessions was surprisingly convincing. Remember, sometimes malware will scream into your face that it is there (see pic, not a genuine window amongst them). It will just not tell you what it really is.
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This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Steve Hargreaves. The comments section below is so lengthy that it has become difficult for our visitors to read. Future posts will now be edited for length and repetition, and personal attacks deleted. You are all welcome to join our Security Forum which is much better-suited for intensive debate. |
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4.30.1004 
Unrestricted Freeware 
Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, Vista, 2003 and XP Home/Pro
- Article type:
Comments
This is way out of date... what happened???
Was this forum shut down?? hit me up. I help alot of other people with there PCs and i don't want to use software that is out of date. Not trying to nag on ya all but i need to stay up to date and this site is my main source of info. I get free info using freeware from a free site to help people for free. works right???
Has anyone tried using IoBits Security 360? It has a real time protection and is free. Didn't know if its dependable?
Sorry, we do not recommend IObit on our site, after the MBAM debacle. Also, after that, their site has got orange WOT rating, and as our site policy, we do not link to sites with bad WOT ratings.
Thanks for that information. I feel dumb asking this is that a bad program then and not recommended by the orange ratings? How about Spyware Terminator is that dependable?
Do I need an *adware-spyware-scumware* remover like Superantispyware, when I am running Avira Free *Antivirus*?
Will not the latter catch what the former does?
We recommend that you have "layers" of protection. While you may or may not need to add "resident" protection with Avira (that is a debate best left to our forums), we recommend that you have "manual" anti-spyware/anti-malware products like MalwareBytes or Super Anti Spyware. By manual, we mean that you run them manually weekly or bi-weekly.
Thanks a lot for clarifying so promptly.
:-)
-Spruce.
I run (paid) K7 Total Security (which is pathetic) and it incorporates something called as "System Monitor" in the suite. It is similar to Spybot's TeaTimer.
Please tell me if there is a *generic* term for that technique (of monitoring changes occurring to the registry or system folders or otherwise, in real time).
Thanking You,
Spruce.
What I think you are looking for is HIPS. HIPS stands for "Host Intrusion Prevention System". Some links that you might find of benefit include:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/hips-explained.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-hips.htm
Is it not about time for a recent version of Ad-Aware to be reviewed? Also we need more antispyeare reviews of free products with real time protection. Thanks
Get Spyware Terminator... if fully funtional with the WebSecure, and a powerful Anti-virus as well... all fully FREE! It does a magnificent job! It arms your computer to the teeth.. yes its fully FREE!!!!! Am amazed it wasn't put as one of the top freeware on the review!
Moderators comment.
Snide remark aimed at the editor and reference to commercial program removed.
Spyware Terminator traditionally has been known for strong HIPS but weak otherwise...and heavy. Is this still the case?
Yes it is. The HIPS is excellent about warning of suspicious activity but should you choose to allow the process in question to continue (and it's malware), it's unlikely to find it afterward during a scan.
Whens the next update?????
With all due respect, I have to disagree with some of your results.
Super Anti-Spyware: Excellent!!! You're right about that one! But I personally cannot recommend the free version, because they are constantly offering the Pro version for $19.95, with lifetime updates! I myself bought it and an additional license for my wife's machine with a lifetime update license, for only $9.95 more! And it does a great job both in scanning and in real time mode, as you said.
Spyware Doctor: For finding infections during a scan, I have to give it to SD, hands down! It just finds stuff that the others don't! However, I must admit that while I have a 5 years license, I didn't install it after redoing my system from scratch a while back. The reason is because it is heavy on RAM and loads a bunch of services and not only that, but what you're enabling/disabling in real time mode can be a bit confusing. The way they word it, you're not quite sure if you just turned off something really important, or if you left something on that takes up a lot of RAM and is just too sensitive and this program has both. (: And when you go to exit the program, guess what? You have to wait while it shuts off all of its services, which wouldn't be too bad, but the problem is, that when you reboot the machine, it doesn't reload the software! Rather, when you exit it, it automatically turns off the "Start with Windows" feature and you have to manually start it the next time you boot up. So if you forget that you shut it down, you might go for days without even realizing it and not have that protection.
Ad-Aware: I am really disappointed in this software's latest versions, starting with 8.x! It just doesn't find much any more and it takes forever to load up! And I mean you're counting the minutes! And I have a new laptop. And don't even get me started on loading it on my machine (a 1.4GHz)! And when it automatically exists and reloads to apply updates that you just downloaded, it still takes forever to load back up again!
MalwareBytes AntiMalware: It is nice, quick software, but I uninstalled it after about 90 days, because it never once found even a single problem. Not one. Not ever.
SpyBot: As for this one, I must greatly disagree with you, my friend! While it is a bit slow to load and takes a while to scan (but so does SAS), it does find problems for me and has rarely had a problem cleaning the infections and on those rare occasions where it did, they were very good about getting an update out pretty quick, or at least a separate download beta removal system, to try to help the users out.
I have removed the mention and the long discussion of a commercial software. Please... this is a freeware-only site, and we do not allow discussion of commercial software on here. If you have a freeware software to talk about, then its OK... but glorifying a commercial software is not allowed on here. If you want to talk about commercial software, there are other sites on the internet.
Next time, the whole comment will be deleted.
In the end, we decided to award eight of the ten licenses donated by Immunet for our "how to stay safe online" competition winners here:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/security/4430-win-license...
The remaining two plus three more will be given away to the first five members to send me what I think are the funniest one sentence reasons why they should get one! Humorous personal abuse is acceptable so long as it's only directed at me :D
Entries by PM only please. Keep them clean as we need to publish the results!
I started using Malwarebytes' Anti-malware when it first appeared (bought it) and have used it ever since. Soon after, SUPERAntispyyware appeared and I have been using the Pro version ever since as well, constantly referring to Gizmo's all-time best for new appearances. Readers of Gizmo's site will verify that we users would be lost without MBAM and SAS; and my question is, why the paucity of more good anti-spyware/malware programs to combat this slimy plague?
It's a wide-open field, ripe for MBAM and SAS to work in by constantly improving their ware.
Come on good guys, how about it, with thorough realtime protection which we ordinary internet users would welcome - and any other improvements
as well.
Hitman pro has become part of my trinity of goto antimalware scanners including MWB and SAS. Of the 3, I feel MWB and Hitman are the best and SAS comes in second.
Hitman is only free for 30 days... unless you download, install, run it and then uninstall. The next time I need it I rinse and repeat.
FWIW Hitman is one of a VERY few apps that will detect and remove the latest TDL3 rootkit virus.
-J
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that since Hitman is cloud based it's REALLY fast. Most scans are under 5 minutes and many are under 3 minutes depending on the PC in question.
The coolest part is that it scans you PC using all the detection databases of several top quality brand name security suites Like Prevx, G-Data, Dr. Web and NOD32.
Win a License for Immunet Protect Plus!
Followers of Immunet Protect cloud based antivirus will be aware that the 2.0 version has just been released.
www.immunet.com/free/index.html
I have to say that I’ve been quite impressed with how Alfred Huger and the rest of his team have conducted this exercise. Their dedication and commitment to customer generated improvements is a sure fire lesson some other vendors would do well to copy. The net result is an effective antimalware solution which will continue to improve as development moves forward. A bonus is that the program will run alongside many of the traditional solutions. The official and unofficially supported programs are listed here:
http://support.immunet.com/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=4
In recognition of the feedback received from TSA members, Immunet have graciously made available 10 free licenses for the “Plus” version of Immunet Protect. In order to give everyone a fair shot at these we’ve decided to run a competition. All you need do to enter is to write a short piece about the steps you take to stay safe online, including the *programs you use and why you think these are the best solutions.
*Any entries containing references to commercial products will be disqualified.
Entries should be submitted to myself by using the “Contact Info” button which is accessible by clicking my user name (MidnightCowboy) in the forum.
If you are not already registered for the site please use the "register" button at the top of the forum page.
The ten winners will each receive a free license for the “Plus” version of Immunet Protect and their entries will be published in a special “Security” section forum thread.
Closing date for receipt of entries is Monday 28th June, 2010.
The judges decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into concerning entries.
No disrespect, but why would anyone jump at getting licenses to this AV software?
Seriously. I mean users tend to have AV software installed already and unless they're either ignorant of how this stuff works and jump at everything that someone says is good, or know that what they have now sucks, why would people start uninstalling their current AV software, to go with something they're not sure about, just because someone posts an ad as you did, that is designed to drum up business by trying to make it sound exciting and as if people are stampeding to get there before 10 licenses are gone? In reality, if I went for it now and made it, that would tell me that no one uses the software! :)
And no offense to anyone (really), but anyone who decides to install this one along with what they already have on their system and ends up having more than one AV package on a machine at one time, is probably one of those who fit into the first description above. Again, no offense. I'm just saying that they wouldn't be the best testers for you and I'm telling you this, because you might want to ask people before giving them the free license, if they plan on trying to leave their current AV software on their systems.
And I know that I don't personally trust any software that says it won't have a problem working with other AV software, based on the way that AV software works and at what level in the OS. And I don't (maybe I missed it) understand why anyone would need to go for one of these free licenses, when it claims to be free anyway?
So how much has my blondness missed here? :) And be easy on me!
blondness is not an affliction but a gift. It is also unfortunately a term much misused by some to categorize a certain segment of society. Even more unfortunate are those who don't even have to try very hard to fit into it :)
Where to start? Firstly, your blondness has entirely missed the point of Immunet Protect. Immunet is designed to compliment your existing security setup and on my system runs without conflicting with any of my other security apps. Nothing needs to be uninstalled and d'ya know what? go to the Immunet site and read about the product before making ridiculous assertions that not only do not stand up to the vaguest of scrutiny but also make you appear foolish. Oh, and none taken :)
Why no mention of Windows Defender?
Because it is, and always was, useless!
MS Security Essentials has replaced defender and it is actually one of the best freebies
windef is old hat (and not v good)! mse replaces it.
Just wanted to point out a good scanner for those of us that like second opinions please try this product won't be disappointed:
http://w w w .techsupportalert.com/content/probably-best-free-security-list-world.htm its called wassup?
Hi everyone I've just got a question about something that has been happening lately on my system. I have recently done a fresh factory restore format and reinstall of Vista. I have lately been getting redirected I use comodo internet security and using panda cloud free 1.1 with usb vaccine, ad-aware and malwarebytes antimalware as on demand with the new version of emsisoft antimalware free 5. Lately I was doing some web browsing and I'm getting redirected to rogues this normally didn't happen before I've scanned with everything so far nothing found not even panda which I would have thought would pick up something suspect even if it didn't have a name for it. kinda annoying I was typing this and was redirected almost like something was sending it to my IP address since I wasn't doing a search or anything.Comodo picked up ApplicUnsaf.Win32.Spy.Agent~chn@16595105 found in C:Windows\System32\rpcnetp.dll so I'm thinking that panda cloud let something through not sure why I've tested panda before and its blocked everything on the malwaredomainlist even the new stuff. Anyways just want some insight in to this I'm running out of programs to scan with Hitmanpro didn't find anything emsisoft ad-aware superantispyware comodo pandacloud nothing found anything.
Hello,
I would recommend scanning your system in Safe mode with each of those programs set to their highest settings and you can try Comodo DNS; if you have not already:
http://www.comodo.com/secure-dns/switch/windows_vista.html
After that make sure that your operating system is up-to-date, your browsers, plug-ins, etc.
Also you may want to clear your temporary internet files, history, cookies, etc. from each browser and your system Temp using Windows built in Disk Cleaner or CCleaner or Comodo System Cleaner.
And you may even want to submit your whole Program Files Folder and Windows folder using Comodo's Anti-virus Submit Files option in the program; maybe you have some new hard to detect malware hidden somewhere, and submitting the file or files may help it finally be detected.
Anyway, good luck.
I would recommend changing your dns provider to opendns or dnsadvantage.
According to the Comodo forums this is a false positive
http://forums.comodo.com/av-false-positivenegative-detection-reporting/i...
In order to be able to offer something more constructive it might help to know which browser you are using (plus extensions if any) and which addresses you were being redirected to. The second might give some clues as to the malware behind the redirections if one exists.
Well MidnightCowboy I'm sorry I'm a bit late with this post but to answer your question I used Mozilla as my default browser WOT and Trusteer Rapport as well. I haven't downloaded any addons yet and don't want to clutter my system with unneeded addons or applications. Since the last post I've removed panda and the usb vaccine addon as well as added Prevx with evaluation monitoring on just to help. I have still been getting some redirects but since I added WOT none of the pages have had a good rating. They have all also when I'm typing sometimes my mouse button just goes back to the middle of my page as well. Just getting the feeling that something is either hiding on my system or is not working properly. Prevx hasn't found anything I would have tried Immunet but its useless never found much in my testing of it. I did put antikeylogger on rapport. Oh interesting new development I was just checking out the best free security list in the world and came across a new program called wuzzup? apparantly I have a virus on my system W32.Virut.Gen.D-159 so that would make sense. Apparently its good at hiding so now I'm really going to recommend that you try that out. Very Happy for this site sometimes we stumble on the answer ourselves just asking the question.
I forgot to mention that I was using Returnil and I guess something got by it in system safe I did do some testing of a few sites but panda did find them. I wanted to test in system safe mode to make sure panda was really able to run with existing AV/AS security programs. It worked ok I guess here is a good way to say they don't remove everything well. For those of you I'd still wait on Cloud technology MSE is a good mix of both or go back to Avira.It let W32.Virut.Gen.D-159 in. And wanted to ask which DNS settings I should use OpenDNS, DNSAdvantage or Comodo SecureDNS. I'm in Canada and do know they are all american based not a issue just wanting to find the best option for me.
Superantispyware just released a few updates and program improvements-should these be expected to improve their seemingly faltering reputation?
'....seemingly faltering reputation?'
where do get this from?
From the Wilders forums...Read it yourself
The idea of this or any forum is to share information and experiences. In this respect it's always courteous to provide a link to any source quoted so that other members and visitors can then read these for themselves. This kind of abrupt reply to a genuine request for information about the source achieves nothing except to demonstrate the ignorance with which it was made.
I think there will be a new software to look at in this category : NoVirusThanks Malware Remover.
After you have looked at it. You'll see its about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. Have a fantastic day.
I think you're right. Mine melted during it's first scan :D
Mac users Beware!
'Mac spyware infiltrates popular download sites'
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/01/mac_spyware/
Does someone know how good is the active protection of the paid version of SuperAntiSpyware ?
Do you have many alerts from it or almost none ?
Is that worth buying it ?
Thank you !
Have SuperAntiSpyware Profesional. Bought the Pro Version as was so impressed with the free on demand scanner, i thought realtime protection will be good. Very disappointed as SAS/Pro only protects your home page from change, and alerts you (if you or malware) try to change it. All other tracking cookies / malware etc pass through it's so called Realtime Protection. You have to find these using the On Demand Scanner, which is free.
Thank you for your answer billy22taxi !
On the SAS's site, the description they make of the active protection indicates that it is doing a little bit more than protecting your home page from changes.
Maybe it is not very good at doing the rest or maybe your surfing habits are very safe or you are very lucky...
If someone else has something to say about the SAS's active protection, you're welcomed !
SAS Pro does have fist chance prevention. This means it does a scan on start up and shut down. I found if you click scan my computer / click Perform Custom Scan, checking only Startup Locations and Cookies. This fast scan 3secs gets all your tracking cookies.
I use Comodo DNS as fist line of defence. IE8 with Smartscreen. Online Armour with HIPS. AVIRA Personal. MBAM and SAS on demand.
One major drawback for SuperAntiSpyware is, its really slow!!
And its detection rates are less than Malwarebytes.
However it does have useful tools in the tools section AND unlike Malwarebytes it has a portable version that can be run and updated from a USB stick. SAS is still relevant but its no longer the BEST free antimalware app especially when it comes to detection and removal.
-J
Steve,
Your testing alerted us to the wonders of OpenDNS, which prevented you from accessing many malware sites. When I inquired at that time, you indicated you were simply using the free/basic version of OpenDNS, without customizing any aspects.
I've just come across a new segment within these TechSupportAlert pages
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/new-smart-caching-opendns-see-we...
which now states "Since then [early 2009], the protection from malware sites previously provided by the free version of OpenDNS has been cut. However, a similar malware blocking feature is currently freely available with DNS Advantage - this highly recommended free DNS option is now a major competitor, at least from the security standpoint".
I realize you're quite busy, but I believe you need to address this point as soon as possible... I have been strongly recommending OpenDNS to my friends, stressing its security-related aspect that you promoted. Is OpenDNS no longer the "magic bullet", in terms of anti-malware security, that it used to be? And how does DNS Advantage compare as an alternative, both in terms of speed/reliabilty of resolving DNS as well as in offering malware protection?
This is a very good question, which I believe should be answered by the editor or someone in techsupportalert. Because I too have noticed that opendns does not protect you like it used to so I switch to dnsadvantage.
I have got security essentials 2010 on my xp system! I know it's a virus! How do I get rid of it? Luckily I have Windows 7 on a different partition, so I can start Windows 7 from the boot selection menu and am now trying to scan my xp disk with Malwarebytes, but it isn't finding anything! Any help?
better a late reply than never, have you tried the forums here? A step-by-step guide to removal is at: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-security-essentials-2010 - hope this helps. NB. to the admins, I don't know if link posting is allowed or not so apologies if not.
Link posting is allowed. Only thing is links should not be to a commercial site/software... should be rated green by WOT, etc.
Is this article due to be updated? There is a native 64-bit version of SUPERAntiSpyware now, and also a standalone/portable version that does not require installation (but unpacking locally of some files).
For now, I'm using GesWall,Avast,pctool plus,winpatrol pro or plus?(paid 99¢ via this site),SuperAntiSpyware Pro(paid),Sandboxie,Shadow Defender(trialware for now),Manuel scan with A2(emisoft),Hitman Pro,(Trial)Spybot Search & Destroy,UltraSurf(on demand). Firefox addons: Wot,Dr Web Link scanner,Better Privacy,NoScript,Admuncher(paid software), with a hardwired router w/default setting changed to increase security.
I was using Immunet protect which did not conflict with any of my security software. However, It did produce "false" positives and put in quarantine and if there is a way to remove from quarantine, I could not see how, even after spending time on their forum. It did not impact or slow down my computer at all. I have a pent4 processor with 2.5gb ram and it's an 04 machine.Pent 4 processor speed is 3.0gb. I liked Immunet Protect so much that I will install again and try and figure out a way to deal with "false" positives and again spend more time on their forum...it is still a work in progress.
Was going to install Panda cloud for a trial run, but in order to do so, would have to uninstall Avast and that I was not willing to do. So in that respect, Immunet is far more compatible with with other security software than panda. Not sure about how they compare to each other in terms of detection..Perhaps someone would elaborate more on both products now or in the future.
Too much security..as long as its not conflicting or noticeably slowing down my puter...then I'm good with it.
Love this site, as I always learn something.
Just a followup to my own comments...ok, there is a way to "white list"(add to an exclusions list)however, apparently from what I've read, Immunet Protect detects what avast doesn't...not correct apparently what's going on is that Immunet Protect jumps in front of avast and quarantines before Avast can scan it! Also, Immunet Protect is quarantining when I try to run a A2 scan and even quarantines files that I am trying to up;oad to A2 preventing me from so doing...also as previously mentioned, way too many "false positives"...after trying to add to Immunet's exclusion list...I gave up...seems like if I download it quarantine files and if I try using other software it quarantines files...so, although I continue to believe that Immunet has great promise..for me, just way too many false positives and its interfering with Avast and with A2. I'll continue to keep and eye on it and fro time to time will try it again just to see how it's progressing. I'm a non tech person, so again perhaps someone else with more expertise will examine it in depth and report.
Of all the freebies, I really love to use SuperAntiSpyware.
It detects and removes the malicious programs without much worry.
I have the same opinion. SuperAntiSpyware is great! It has removed any malicious software I ever got! So why do we still need anti virus? This is what I don't understand! Can anybody explain? What is the difference between an anti-spyware and an anti-virus? Do I still need an anti-virus like Kaspersky? (I have Kaspersky and a lot of the time is able to detect but fail to remove)SuperAntiSpyware is able to remove any malicious software I ever got.
I will explain this with whatever knowledge I have got. Nowadays there are a lot of malicious software being made, all known together as malware. There are different categories in that. Virus, worm etc, will infect your system, and destroy it, making it unbootable, or will cause problems so that you are unable to perform any work on the PC. Whereas spyware will try to send your information out of your PC to a person, or server, or anywhere. So, antispywares specialize in handling these types of malware. But nowadays, antivirus have some amount of antispyware capabilities too, like Avast, and Avira, and others too. But still, MBAM, SAS, A-Squared are required because they specialize in dealing with spyware.
I hope you find it useful, someone with better knowledge than me will tell you more :).
sas is also good in dealing with trojans.
Ad-Aware has plans to add free anti-virus to the already free ad-aware version with anti-walware as well as a new ad-aware product to be released sounds interesting since Lavasoft did well in the latest Av tests. Should be interesting to see.
Which AV tests are you referring to? Do you have a link? Also will the free AV they are to include third party or their own?
Its spelled TrendMicro HiJackThis not TendMicro HijackThis. please fix, its been like that for years
It's fixed now. Mostly we do pick these up, but occasionally some might slip through. Thanks for highlighting this one :)
Spy-bot has been around for a long time. Do you think it still is an effective tool for me te use as a second on-demand spyware remover/scanner?
As long as you pair it with another scanner you should be fine! Just make sure you do a scan with each one every week. Also I'm not sure what browser you are using but if it has a phishing filter on it make sure that is activated as well.
Cheers!
Currently Internet Explorer 8 has the best phishing/malware filter on the market. It's called SmartScreen filter. I think the block rate now is up to 89 percent.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/07/02/ie8-security-part-iii-smarts...
New version of HiJackThis has been released. 2.0.4 is the new version.
I am using Avast, GesWall and Sandboxie. Is this enough or still I need to have some kind of extra protection to secure my PC.
is there any need for both geswall and sandboxie?
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